Bronx Delta School

Bronx Delta is a well-run pre-kindergarten to 5th grade school that weaves art into lessons, and plans six art-themed field trips per year. Founded in 2014 in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx, it also has an ASD/Nest program, which mixes children with an autism spectrum disorder, into small, co-teaching classes with general education students. Teachers overwhelmingly recommend the school to new families. 

“My daughter is currently in first grade at this amazing, warm, community-minded school. Since starting Pre-K at Bronx Delta she has grown leaps and bounds and I have felt confident that she was cared for and was receiving high quality instruction,” said a parent.

The Quality Review praises principal Maria Rogalle for being “proactive in supporting teachers, as well as making informed and effective organizational decisions” in order to make teaching stronger. Many teachers serve as leaders, teaching each other how to improve instruction, often a sign of a strong school. 

Lessons often include projects. Videos show students potting take-home plants at the New York Botanical Garden. Third-graders designed blueprint grids to create zoo habitats, measuring the perimeters of animal homes. 

Children may choose “cluster” classes that interest them, such as cooking or ballet. In the science cluster, students engineered a standing structure out of cardboard and tubes. In a video on the school website, a teacher says that cluster classes allow adults to see in students a “newfound confidence you don’t always see in the classroom.” 

The school has interesting partnerships that boost academic lessons, such an art history residency for pre-k students with the New York Historical Society. Students may study percussion/theater, or theater/dance, with Marquis Studios. The school hosts winter and spring festivals to showcase the arts. More after-school programming is provided by the Phipp’s Neighborhood Beacon Program.

Bronx Delta works intentionally to create a close-knit and caring community. Students participate in a weekly class that uses art to cover topics such as how to be a good friend and how to resolve a conflict. Kids reach out to people in need, by collecting coats for New York Cares or gathering toys for a women’s shelter.

Attendance could be stronger; many children miss at least a month of school. 

[Photo from the school's social media accounts]

SPECIAL EDUCATION:  In addition to the ASD/Nest program, the school offers ICT (integrated co-teaching) classes on each grade that mix students with disabilities into general classes, and small “self-contained” classes for children with intensive special needs, in addition to speech, occupational therapy and other services.

ADMISSIONS: Unzoned “choice” school with priority to District 8 students. (Lydie Raschka, web reports, April 2020)